THEATER REVIEW
An inspired comedic whodunit
Thumbs, from playwright Rupert Holmes, is a funny murder-mystery comedy escape at Coral Gables' Actors' Playhouse.
Posted on Mon, May. 12, 2008
BY HOWARD COHEN
ALBERTO ROMEU / FOR THE MIAMI HERALD
Angie Radosh, left, and Barbara Sloan join forces to battle a killer in Thumbs.
IF YOU GO
What: Thumbs by Rupert Holmes
Where: Actors' Playhouse, 280 Miracle Mile, Coral Gables
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday (additional matinee May 14), through May 25
Tickets: $46 for Friday and Saturday evening, $38.50 other performances
Info: 305-444-9293 or
www.actorsplayhouse.org
One expects witticisms to come from songwriter-turned-playwright Rupert Holmes. He's the guy who turned the personal ads into cheeky fodder for Escape (The Piña Colada Song), a frothy No. 1 pop single in the late 1970s. He also fed Barbra Streisand the saucy lyric, ''men got the muscle but the ladies got the hustle'' for the feminist anthem, Queen Bee, from A Star Is Born.
So it's little surprise that the Tony-winning Holmes piles plenty of bitingly funny lines into his comedy whodunit Thumbs and he gives the bulk of them to the two strong women who have the leading roles.
Thumbs, the penultimate production of the season at Actors' Playhouse in Coral Gables, derives its humor from Holmes, but it gets its zip from a talented cast assembled by director David Arisco.
The theater's best presentation since Martha Mitchell Calling in December, Thumbs stars Barbara Sloan as Marta Dunhill, a Hollywood superstar -- if only in her mind. Dunhill's the type who would become pregnant to boost her breast size a cup for a nude role and Sloan delights in the showy, zany role.
She's stuck in a Vermont cabin where her ex-husband Freddie Bradshaw (Allan Baker) winds up dead. After trading quips with his ex, he's probably happier wherever he's landed. ''In show business, marriage is leasing with an option to buy,'' Marta sniffs at him before he checks out.
She'd probably prefer hanging out with her younger -- and sometimes towel-clad -- boyfriend Todd Monroe (Zolan Henderson). But there's this scary business about a serial killer on the loose who removes the thumbs from his victims. Plus, there's that body and a cellphone to deal withNot to mention affable sheriff Jane Morton (Angie Radosh) and bumbling detective Wilton Dekes (Wayne Steadman) who arrive to complicate matters for vain Marta.
If this all sounds like a sketch from The Carol Burnett Show -- with, say, Burnett as Marta, Vicki Lawrence as the sheriff and Tim Conway as the detective -- be grateful that it's at least an inspired comedic skit worthy of that old classic variety show.
Thumbs is never as thrilling as its publicity would have you believe, but that's totally acceptable. Thrills and nail-biting suspense isn't Holmes' specialty; humor and clever situations are. With Thumbs, Holmes laces amusing banter into all three acts to keep audiences engaged and alert. Do pay attention to the clues dropped into the dialogue, and there is a revelation or two that pays off, even before intermission. Thumbs isn't one of those back-loaded presentations where all the good stuff comes in a furious rush during the last act.
Arisco noted that Thumbs is the first non-musical to play the theater's main stage in ages. It's big enough in script, characterization, fine actors and Gene Seyffer's detailed set design to merit the featured placement.
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